Youth Program Coordinator

IRC Background:  The mission of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933, the IRC has a presence in over 40 countries and 27 offices in the United States; the IRC leads the way from harm to home. IRC opened an office in Seattle in 1976 and provides a continuum of services including intensive case management, employment and economic empowerment services, immigration assistance, health and wellness programming, and education support to refugee and immigrant families in Washington State.  In late 2021, IRC Washington was authorized by the Federal Government to open a new office site in Spokane

Job Overview: The vision of the IRC Washington Youth Program is that youth from refugee and immigrant backgrounds will have the skills and resources necessary to pursue a future of opportunity. The Youth Program works towards this vision by providing educational and enrichment opportunities to help school-aged youth from refugee and immigrant backgrounds catch up on missed education, adjust to a new school, accelerate English language development, and build positive relationships in the school and community. This program supports school-age youth and their families, and also provides support to teachers and school administration to better connect and serve these students. With the support of the Youth & Education Program Manager, the Youth Program Coordinator is responsible for design, coordination, implementation and supervision of IRC’s Youth and Education Programs in Spokane, WA. This position will initially focus on the development and implementation of the Individualized Tutoring Program, and the design and implementation of future programs to expand the reach of IRC’s youth and education programs in Spokane.  

Major Responsibilities:

Program Design, Implementation and Coordination

• Lead the development and implementation of the Individualized Tutoring Program in Spokane utilizing the existing program model currently implemented in the Puget Sound region, modifying as needed for local context.
  • Develop and maintain the Youth Program volunteer pipeline and process in Spokane through partnership with the Spokane Community Engagement Coordinator.
  • Recruit, screen, and train 20-30 volunteer community tutors annually, who will be matched with newcomer families to provide weekly tutoring either in-home or over virtual platforms.
  • Conduct family outreach and enrollment, maintaining a roster of students and volunteers and facilitating tutor placements.
  • Provide ongoing support and problem-solving for community tutors, answer questions, providing coaching, and disseminating teaching and learning resources and best practices.
  • Provide direct instruction, filling-in for volunteer tutors as needed. 
  • Conduct regular supervision of community tutors to ensure quality instruction and safeguarding accountability, this includes regular tutor observations and feedback, and quarterly feedback calls with families and students.
  • Ensure program policies and guidelines are followed by staff, interns, volunteers and families and program supervision is completed in accordance to program guidelines. 
  • Partner with the Individualized Learning Program Coordinator to conduct regular tutor roundtables, share information and resources, monitor and evaluate tutoring program for continuous improvement.
  • Develop positive relationships with School-based partners through effective communication and program coordination, receiving referrals and providing regular program updates.
• In partnership with the R&P team and Education Access & Family Engagement Coordinator, support positive school and family connections through supporting and advising on school enrollment processes and procedures, new school orientation, and education orientation for newcomer families resettled by IRC.
• Conduct initial and ongoing community needs assessments through input from clients, community partners, and local school districts to identify gaps in education and youth development related services for newcomer populations
• In partnership with IRC Washington Youth & Education Program manager, lead the expansion of youth and education programs within IRC Spokane by proposing and designing new programs to address identified community needs related to education access, youth development, academic support and enrichment, and social and emotional wellbeing.

Community Stakeholder Relationships and Partnerships

• Build and maintain partnerships with local school districts and education institutions including Spokane Public Schools, community and technical colleges, universities, and early learning programs.
• Build and maintain partnerships with education and youth development related community-based organizations.
• Build and maintain partnerships with newcomer caregivers, families, and students.
• Build knowledge and resource guide of local education and youth development related programs and services to enable effective referrals for newcomer families and partnerships in programming.

Program Reporting and Proposal Development

• Complete regular program reporting including data collection and tracking, narrative reporting, and invoicing in accordance with donor requirements.
• Support the Youth & Education Program Manager with proposal development for education and youth programs in Spokane by writing program overviews, summary of program outcomes, maintaining annual report data, developing concept notes and contributing to grant writing and proposal development.

Other Duties

• Participate in all program meetings, staff development activities, and fully engage as a member of the IRC team.
• Comply with all policies, procedures, and protocols of the agency.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: IRC Spokane Site Director, dotted line to the IRC Washington Youth and Education Program Manager
Position directly supervises: Washington Service Corps members, Volunteers and Interns, youth program staff
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Individualized Learning Program Coordinator, Resettlement Program, Volunteer and Development Team, Youth Program, New Roots Program, Health Empowerment Program, Survivor Services Program, Economic Empowerment Program, Immigration Program, and other IRC departments

External: School Districts (Teachers, Admin, etc.), Community Based Organizations, families

Job Requirements:

• Relevant degree in Education, Teaching, Child/Youth Development or related field, or 2-4 years relevant experience in teaching, tutoring, or youth development programming. TESOL certificate a plus.
• Experience in training and facilitation utilizing adult learning principals
• Experience in volunteer coordination/management
• Cross cultural experience; connection and experience working with people from refugee and/or immigrant communities
• Experience working with multi-lingual students and families
• Committed to anti-racism and continual learning and growth
• Demonstrated ability to use a variety of instructional strategies appropriate for individual student needs
• Commitment to creating safe and healing learning spaces for newcomer students and utilizing trauma informed practices with students and families
• Flexible and adaptable – able to quickly problem solve and change plans and activities according to student need or unexpected circumstances
• English proficiency, both spoken and written, and professional proficiency in predominant language of local client base desired (Dari, Pashto, Arabic, Somali, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Ukrainian etc.)
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
• Proficiency in MS Office suite including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams
• Ability to work well with people of diverse cultural backgrounds
• Ability to work well independently and as part of a team
• Ability to maintain responsibility for multiple tasks in the context of a diverse, fast-paced work environment
• Willing to be First Aid/CPR certified upon hire

Working Environment:

• Standard, professional office environment (Combination of in-office and remote).[RK1] 
• Regular evening activities. Typical schedule is 10am – 6pm or 11am – 7pm in order to supervise afterschool/evening tutoring programs. Occasional weekend activities.
• Access to reliable high-speed internet from home office.
• Access to a reliable transportation to travel regularly throughout the Spokane Public School district area.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires candidates who are selected for interview to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for this position.

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